Google Workspace Official Website
Table of Contents
Introduction
"Where was that request form again?" "I can't find the latest HR policy." Sound familiar? If these questions come up every day at your organization, you're not alone.
Chat tools let information scroll away and disappear. Google Drive becomes a maze when folder hierarchies grow too deep. The solution is to use Google Sites — built right into Google Workspace — to build an internal company portal that centralizes all your organization's information in one place.
One of Google Sites' greatest strengths is its built-in site search (magnifying glass icon). The search bar comes standard on every portal and can search not just page titles, but the full text content inside embedded Google Docs and PDFs as well (supported since July 2025).
This article walks you through everything from no-code basics to the governance and permission pitfalls you must avoid — a complete manual for running a safe, sustainable internal portal over the long term.
1. Never Create Your Site in "My Drive"
Before you start building, let's talk about the most important governance rule for a corporate infrastructure tool.
The most common mistake beginners make is creating the portal site in their personal "My Drive." If the creator later leaves the company and their account is deleted, no one will have edit access to the site — it becomes an orphaned site that can never be updated again. This is a serious operational disaster.
Always create your portal site inside a team or department Shared Drive. This ensures that even if the original creator leaves, all Shared Drive members can continue to edit and manage the site.
The Correct Creation Process
- Open Google Drive and select "Shared drives" from the left menu. (Not "My Drive.")
- Inside the target Shared Drive, click the "+ New" button in the upper left.
- Select "More" → "Google Sites."
If your organization's plan doesn't support Shared Drives, create the site and then immediately add other administrators as "Editors" via the "Share (person icon)" button in the upper right. You can check Shared Drive availability from the Admin Console.
2. Build the Foundation of Your Portal
Once the site editor opens in a new tab, set up the basics.
- Click "Untitled site" in the upper left and rename it to something like "Acme Corp Internal Portal."
- Click the large header area in the center (where it says "Page title") and enter your site's title.
- Select the "Themes" tab in the right-side menu and choose colors and fonts that match your company's brand.
Theme colors can be changed at any time. Start with a standard theme and adjust the design as you go — no need to get it perfect before you launch.
3. Add Content: Embedding Apps and Mobile Considerations
Now for the real power of a portal site — adding content using the "Insert" tab on the right side of the editor.
Use Layouts for a Clean, Readable Design
Rather than typing text directly onto the page, drag and drop "Layouts" (pre-built blocks with image and text combinations) from the Insert tab onto the left canvas, then add headings like "Request Forms" and "Internal Manuals." You can embed files by selecting "Forms," "Documents," and other options from the right menu.
Google Sites is mobile-responsive, but embedding a wide spreadsheet directly makes it nearly unusable on a phone. Use the right approach based on how your team will access the content.
| Content Type | Recommended Approach |
|---|---|
| PC-primary documents (Docs, Slides) | Embed directly — works great |
| Content viewed/edited on mobile (Sheets, etc.) | Use the "Button" feature to link — opens in a new tab |
| Google Forms surveys & requests | Embed directly — already mobile-optimized |
Use the "Button" feature from the Insert menu to create a labeled link button like "Open Sales Tracker" — this is far more mobile-friendly than an embedded spreadsheet. Google Forms are already optimized for mobile, so feel free to embed them directly.
4. Multiple Pages and the Announcement Banner
As your content grows, click the "Pages" tab on the right side and use the "+" button at the bottom to add new pages — for example, "HR & Admin" and "IT Support." A navigation menu at the top of the site is generated automatically.
The Announcement Banner feature is incredibly useful for day-to-day portal management. Go to the gear icon (Settings) in the upper right → "Announcement banner" → turn on "Show banner." Set a message like "System maintenance scheduled for [date]" with a link, and it will appear as a prominent banner across every page on your site — perfect for urgent announcements.
5. The Fatal Pitfall: File-Level Permission Errors
Your site design is complete and you're ready to publish — but first, avoid the mistake that catches virtually every first-time builder.
Documents and forms embedded in Google Sites have their own sharing settings — separate from the site's visibility settings. Even if you make the site visible to everyone in your organization, if an embedded document is still set to "Private (only me)," other employees will see an "Access Denied" error when they try to view it.
Before publishing, go to Google Drive and update the sharing settings for every file and folder you've embedded or linked in the portal to "[Your organization]'s users (Viewer)". Best practice: open the published site in an Incognito window to verify that all content loads correctly before announcing it to your team.
6. Publish Your Site for Internal Use Only
Finally, publish the site and share the URL with your team. Make sure to lock down the security settings so the site can't be accessed by people outside your organization.
- Click the blue "Publish" button in the upper right.
- In the "Web address" field, enter the suffix for your URL (e.g.,
portal-2026). - Confirm that "Who can view my site" is set to "[Your organization]'s users." If it shows "Anyone (public)," click "Manage" and change it to your organization only.
- Under "Search settings," check the box for "Request that search engines don't index my site."
- Click the blue "Publish" button.
After publishing, click the link icon (chain link symbol) at the top of the screen to copy the URL, then share it with your team via chat or email. For more details, see the Google Sites Help Center.
Summary: Grow Your Portal the Agile Way
With Google Sites, your team can build a safe, fully featured internal portal — without burdening IT and without writing a single line of code.
Start small and simple — a FAQ page and a collection of links to internal systems is a perfectly good first version. The key to a successful portal is the agile approach: launch fast, gather feedback from the field, and keep adding pages and buttons as real needs emerge. Stay up to date with the latest Google Sites features at the Workspace Updates Blog.
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